I hope you have all enjoyed fall and its festivities and are looking forward to a cozy winter. I have to say, I'm pretty envious (Thailand has 3 seasons: hot, hotter, and hottest). Two weeks ago was Halloween, and the only way I celebrated was by being the only person in my entire school to wear their uniform. Turns out that on the last day of every month no one wears uniforms, which would have been nice to know beforehand. Anyway, besides that, life is pretty good. This past month has been pretty eventful, let me tell you more!
Three weeks ago I joined a weekend retreat for civil engineering students from the university that my host dad teaches at. The first day consisted of guest speakers and group activities where I got to meet the other students and practice some Thai. ...
That night all of the students had a bonfire and I learned more about life as a college student in Thailand.
The next day we went to the headquarters of a toy company called PlanToys, which makes high quality wooden toys for kids all over the world. The company highly values sustainability, and we learned about how they reduce their carbon footprint through renewable materials and eco-friendly manufacturing practices. In the afternoon we got a tour of the factory, where we got to see all the parts of the manufacturing process. I came away from the trip with new friends and a newfound appreciation for factories.
Two days after I got back from my weekend retreat I headed to Malaysia with Rotary. We started in my host city of Hat Yai (only 30 miles north of the Malaysian border) and took a van south, stopping along the way at George Town, Kuala Lampur, and Johor Baru. Malaysia looked and felt more developed than Thailand, and its primarily Muslim population definitely gave it a different feel. However, its landscape, kind people, and delicious food were just like Thailand's. Although we didn't spend very long at each city, we still got to see many of Malaysia's most famous attractions (pictures below) and learn a lot about the country's history and culture. A lot of our trip was actually spent in the van going from city to city. Some of the highlights of the boys van included an hour long debate about which condiment is the best (Mayo, obviously), assigning every person on the trip their corresponding animal, and many hours of a group game called Heads Up. All of the exchange students left the trip as much better friends, and we are all keeping in touch a lot more now.
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| A baby monkey who came up to investigate us right outside of the cave. | The resort we stayed at during the engineering retreat had sheep who liked to come into the dining room when we were eating meals and say hi. This is me with a sheep I named Cleatus. |
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| A night market in George Town. | A picture of the famous Marina Bay Sands Casino in Singapore which has an actual boat on top of the buildings. |
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| The Petronas Towers, located in Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lampur. They are owned by Petronas, the largest oil company in Malaysia, and are the tallest twin towers in the world | A cave located between George Town and Kuala Lampur that we visited. |
We ended our trip in the country of Singapore, which was definitely my favorite part of the trip. On a bus tour through the city on our first day we learned about Singapore's history, low taxes, strict rules, and large amounts of wealth. I thought its history was particularly interesting, as just 60 years ago Singapore was a poor country with a high level of unemployment and no significant industry. Here is a long but interesting video about Singapore's history and rise to Asia's top financial center. I am going back to Singapore in December, so there will be more about the country in an email when I get back.
Well, I think that's about it. Thanks again for tuning in and for all of your continued support. I am having a blast and can't wait for the next seven months.